The Chronicles of Caeli
by Wanwanbarks
Summary: While going through her daily life, Saki was ripped to an unknown world of magic and dragons. Follow Saki and her new friends as they try to survive this new world together. -I do not own this story! I just translated it from German for anyone who wants to read it! The story belongs to SakiHarashi on the German site!
1. Prologue

With a blow to the head, she was unceremoniously jerked from her sleep. She was, not long after, furiously shaken awake. It took a few moments for her to straighten up and brush the few strands of hair from her face. The blanket with which she was covered slipped past her shoulders and she let out an involuntary yawn.

"Welcome back Miss."

She automatically looked towards the direction of the voice as it finally came to her senses that she was in the cab. She had even forgotten that the driver was still there. How was something like that even possible? Cabs didn't even have autopilot and to be honest, that would just make Saki feel uneasy.

The pale blue eyes of the lady at the wheel beamed at her through the rearview mirror before moving back onto the road.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked, probably not expecting an answer considering the little time she waited for an answer. "You will be delighted to hear that we will be arriving soon."

Saki's stomach stirred with excitement at the words of the driver. She was indeed happy, but nervousness and anxiety prevailed over all other emotion. Her hands moved down to gently clutch the blanket that now lay on her lap and the 20-year-old looked out of the window. The view was different. The road had long been reduced to a dusty dirt path and she could spot a hill a little ways away with an entire mountain range even further away. The ground was green and dotted with puddles under a grey sky concealed with clouds.

"Still excited? I thought a little sleep would do you good" The driver sighed, almost annoyed at how silent the girl was.

The addressed had a rather sad look on her face. "Excited" was too downgraded a word. She would rather be anywhere but here. Sure is was her own decision to accept the offer and come here, but at what cost?

"Hey" said the woman, interrupting her train of thought. "You don't need to worry. You're a tough girl. I think you have what it takes."

Saki was honored. but avoided looking at the driver. She had a point though. She had all the necessary qualities to be here. She was polite, friendly, looked relatively good an she could also cook and clean. The only thing she was lacking was self-confidence and fear of the unknown.

To tell the truth, Saki wasn't entirely sure what was awaiting her at her destination. All she knew is that if you qualified you were granted a "unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." It sounded ridiculous when you think about it, but now it was too late to back down. Saki had already travelled several hundreds of kilometers on land, sea and air and it was not easy. The car was hot and the sea was choppy. She even had a panic attack on the plane. The only comfort she had was the cold window pane.

"We'll see..." Said the blonde. You could hear the sleepiness in her voice. She pulled the blanket over her chest and pulled her legs to her chest. Soon she would be there. A place she has never been before, but the driver was probably right. Things will take their course. All Saki had to do now was expect the unexpected.


	2. Chapter 1

It was a good hour before Saki could finally set her foot on the ground. The two ladies were now so high up in the mountains that Saki shook as they closed the car. Before she could look around, she went back to put on her jacket, but this didn't help much. The sudden gusts of wind made her shudder. Through her blonde hair, Saki saw the driver take her luggage out of the car's compartment. She would've been able to see more had there not been so much fog. Or maybe they were clouds? She turned around towards the direction from which she had come from. The road disappeared into the fog. Saki crossed her arms trying to comfort herself from the scary atmosphere.

"That's the last of them." The driver groaned heaving one last of her luggage from the car. It wasn't particularly heavy. Saki just thought the woman probably lacked the body mass to lift the trunk properly. "What did you pack in here? Rocks?" She leaned on the car. She suddenly looked as though she felt something strange in the atmosphere. "It's really cold and foggy up here. No way anyone can find their way around."

She pointed past Saki into the fog. The blonde's eyes followed the driver's finger and she could see nothing. She had no idea what was lurking beyond the mist. She reached out to the haze, but retreated her arm, thinking that she saw something move inside it.

The driver unceremoniously hauled her case over to her. Saki flinched involuntarily and just stared at her black suitcase.

"There's a small path that you can't miss." The driver started "It should take you about half an hour to get there if you don't linger"

Saki ignored her little hallucination. She was going in there anyway so she might as well ignore any fantasies that she might have. That must be it - fantasies - nothing else. Probably a bird or a small animal, better yet it could've just been the wind.

She thanked the driver with a determined face and received a small smile in return. Despite that first impression, it did feel good to finally be there. It did make her calmer knowing the person who dropped her off was so sociable with her. She watched as the slightly smaller woman hopped back into her car and drove off.

Saki waited for the taillights of the car and the hum of the engine to disappear before averting her gaze back to her path. The eerie silence fell again. She was tired, but what good would it do her to linger about even further when she had half an hour worth of climbing to do? Though the thought of it didn't make it any more attractive. So she grabbed her suitcase, took one last breath and began to walk down the path.

The 30 minutes passed by relatively quicker than Saki thought they would. It all seemed to have gotten livelier after the fog started lifting. It suddenly was quite bright again as the sun shone onto her face. Granted it surprised her a little since it had been scarce the past few days, but she blinked it off and decided to take a short break and look around. The road she was following had become remarkably narrow. The short grass weighed gently in the cold wind and the clouds were scattered around. So she was above cloud level after all! It felt as though she would be able to walk on them if she tried. Laying on them would feel soft like a blanket. Looking outwards, Saki saw many mountain peaks towering from a sea of clouds. From her point of view it looked like paradise, so unreal and fascinating! She averted her gaze to the path she was following and spotted something at the very end of it. A red tower, but the sun was too blinding for her to see anything else. This piqued her curiosity, so she grabbed her suitcase and continued to walk her way to the top.

A solid 15 minutes passed before Saki reached the top of the mountain, but soon she was standing in front of the tower. It looked scary. The aggressive red colours had a bit more of an effect that Saki expected them to. It looked like a Japanese tower, completely red and black with an equally scary bridge. From the ends of its beams hung red lanterns that gently swayed in the wind. Saki stared at it in awe. She finally made it to the top, but now she was afraid of what awaited her beyond the tower. Did she take the long journey here to practice kung fu, or whatever, in isolation and spend the rest of her life on top of a mountain? Her hands trembled on the suitcase handle. She could always just turn around and go home. The miser in her screamed. The journey there alone was very expensive and she had come such a long way away from home, but the coward in her wanted to go home to her mother and sister.

Saki's Odyssey was unceremoniously interrupted by a noise. She turned around, there was someone behind her. Where did they come from? Didn't they even have the decency to announce themselves? Her eyes met those of the young man in front of her. He seemed to be just as startled to see her as she was. His suitcase slipped out of his hand and he stumbled backwards landing on his backside. She couldn't have been that scary, saki thought to herself. She was more confused over his spontaneous overreacting than actually meeting somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

"Man!" He cried out furiously, but at the same time gave a harmless impression. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry..."

Saki eyed him. He seemed to be just as exhausted as she was. He caressed his back and winced in pain.

"Alright..." He finally managed, surprising Saki a bit. How was everything alright so quickly? Maybe he was just weird.

Saki silently watched as he set out to pick up his suitcase. It was a rather pitiful sight. After about half a minute he stood over and they both just stared at each other in silence.

 _What now? Are we supposed to become friends? Should I try to become friends with him? Why isn't he saying anything?_ Saki thought. If they stayed in silence any longer it was only going to get more awkward.

"So..." he started "...you new here?"

That was a stupid question, she told herself, but the boy grinned.

"Uh, yeah..." Saki wasn't sure whether it was a joke or a desperate attempt to start a conversation. "What do you think they want from us?"

He walked next to the girl and reached for her suitcase which she had dropped in all the commotion he had caused earlier. What did he want with her suitcase?

"No idea" he finally answered.

He gave her a warm smile. She envied his composure.

"I guess we should find out." He handed the girl her suitcase and they both stepped over the red bridge.

A hundred meters felt like an eternity as they both walked towards the building in front of them in silence until they came to a halt at a large, heavy wooden door. It did not seem very welcoming in the slightest.

"Wait! I'll do it" The boy put down his suitcase, rolled up the sleeves of his orange turtle neck and puffed out his chest. Was he trying to make an impression on Saki? Once he was puffed and manly he placed his hands on the door and made to push, but it turned out that the door was lighter than it looked. He stumbled through the door and landed on his hands in front of Saki. Not only did this confuse him, but it also made a scene within the building as there were quite a few people to witness his little performance. Some of them were carrying around luggage and towels., others were at what looked like a reception, others just seemed to be out enjoying the place. All eyes fell on Saki and her companion who just stared aghast.

"Uh... Hi!" Another grin stretched across his face.

Saki did not enjoy the situation. She hated being in the center of attention and thanks to this weirdo she had countless eyes staring at her. Saki pulled him up to his feet and they both slowly walked inside the building and, now behind closed doors, the two stared in astonishment. Entire staircases lead to the very top of the tower. Not many of the people inside the building were travellers, so someone like her and her colleague, in a hoodie and jeans, would easily be distinguished from the rest. The staff all wore white uniforms with different coloured accents. All in all the place looked very professional.

"Excuse me?" Came a small voice in front of them.

The two had looked so amazed that they did not notice the two people that had appeared in front of them. Two women in a white uniform with red accents gave them a warm smile.

"Were you invited?" They asked.

Saki and her companion both nodded silently.

"Miss. Please Follow me." Said one of them.

"Sir. Please Follow me" Said the other.

In mere seconds two young men in grey-accented uniforms appeared and took their luggage. The two newcomers followed the two ladies who had already started leading the way. It was clear that neither Saki nor her companion knew what was going to happen next, but they reluctantly followed the ladies and were thus separated.

The women led the boy to the right and Saki to the left. They went through a red door - of course, what other colour would it be? The doors slammed shut and silence engulfed the atmosphere once again. Saki found herself in a passage which led to a waiting room.

"You may sit here until it's your turn" The woman in the uniform said. She waited for Saki to nod then disappeared again.

Saki could see two doors. The room had a few chairs on which another person was sitting. It was a girl with black hair that just about covered her neck. She tiresomely glanced over to Saki. The thin air must be getting to her. Saki felt a sort of strange connection to the girl as though she felt comfortable being around her. After all both seemed to have been just thrown into the situation.

"Hi" Saki started without thinking.

"Hello" She answered fairly quickly.

They did not make eye contact.

"Do you know what we're supposed to be doing here?" Saki asked, peeking at her from the corner of her eye.

The girl shook her head. "I do not know." She sounded unimpressed "But I feel really out of place here."

Saki laughed. "That's true! Me too!"

The black-haired girl gave her a strange glance. She was obviously weirded out by Saki's sudden joyous outburst, but she somehow managed a smile anyway.

"I mean I feel like I'm in a movie" She said.

"Watch out, you're gonna be in the next Kung Fu Panda." Saki joked, but the laughter died quickly.

Saki looked wearily at her feet. Her sneakers were covered in dust and grime and her clothes were damp from being in the clouds, but now she felt generally somewhat less tense.

"Hey" She started. The two girls made eye contact "What's your name?"

The question may have come to a surprise because it took the girl a while for her to put her smile back on and answer.

"Li-"

She was interrupted when one of the doors swung open and another girl walked out accompanied by an older man. The had dark brown hair, significantly longer than the girl sitting next to Saki, and she at fashioned into a ponytail. She gave the two girls a weak grin.

"Next please" the man said.

The girl next to saki stood up and followed him into the room. The door closed and once again silence fell. The girl that had come out of the room just before had already left. If she was still able to smile after coming out of that room, she thought that maybe things weren't so bad. She sat in silence for a few minutes, then the other door opened. Another girl exited the room. This time a brunette with glasses. She looked briefly at Saki then slowly made for the exit.

"Next please"

Saki rose immediately and cautiously stepped into the room.

There was a large desk in one of the corners of the room, in another a sofa. There were large bookshelves against the walls and pictures and mirrors hung from the walls.

"Please have a seat" Said the lady at the desk. Saki gingerly took a seat on the chair in front of the desk. "Name?"

"Saki Harashi"

"Date of birth?"

"26th August 1995."

After a plethora of personal questions the woman at the desk finally addressed the elephant in the room. Although at first it sounded like a badly planned out joke. According to the woman, Saki had travelled her way through a magic threshold into a realm of magic. She didn't fully understand how or why, but there was a possibility that she was in a completely different world that the one she had travelled from. In this realm, not only was magic a possibility, but this realm seemed to be swarmed with Dragons! No matter how serious an impression the tower gave, this was not news that Saki could believe so easily. Yet as the woman continued to explain, the reason Saki and the others were there was so that they would be educated in combat and gain control over elemental powers. Not only that, but within this realm you got a new name and they weren't allowed to have a say in it!

She was then allowed to leave. In the waiting room were two girls - one with pink hair and another with brown hair with red tips. Saki wished she could warn them about what they are in for inside one of these rooms, but she was too tired for that. Her brain was too busy processing what just happened and besides it's not like they can avoid what awaits them beyond those doors. Saki was told to walk to the next room for a medical check-round. She had nothing to lose so she did as she was told. It couldn't be that bad. She gave the two girls a weak smile before leaving the waiting room. The lobby was still as busy as it was before. The staff was still running around wildly, but no more new arrivals entered the tower. Saki knocked on the next door and entered. A doctor and his assistant were expecting her and welcomed her with a blunt smile. They were only there to do their job - conducting a medical search throughout Saki's entire body, taking her blood, examining her skin, allergy testing as well as x-raying her entire body.

Saki was allowed to leave the room about two hours later. She was given instruction to report her name at the reception where she would also be given her room keys. In the meantime she wasn't asked any more questions. As she entered the lobby for the third time since her arrival she saw that the activity had died down this time around. It was relatively dark and quiet in the building now. Has the sun gone down? How long has she been here? She was still quite exhausted from such a busy day and didn't feel like thinking too much about it. Without hesitation she stole to the reception and asked for her room key.

"Name?" The woman asked, barely moving.

"Saki" She stopped. That wasn't her name anymore. "L-Lyra..." her voice trailed. It was so strange, not because it was a bad name, but it just didn't feel necessary.

The woman took a key from the rack behind her and gave it to her. The key had the number 243 and the name Lyra written on it. The key itself was an old-looking shade of Bronze. Now all "Lyra" had to do was find her room. She walked to the stairs and for a moment wondered if she would ever be able to make it to her room, but she started moving and was too tired to continue thinking about it.

She walked up two flights of stairs, then saw a sign above a door leading to the balconies that said "GIRL QUARTIER." She walked out on the balcony and was met with an ice blast. It was so much warmer inside she had forgotten how cold it was outside. The sky was dark blue in colour and filled with stars. So many more than she had ever seen before. With no lights from street lamps or houses the only light source outside was the moon which shone much brighter than anywhere else in the world. It took a moment before she could tear away from the sight. She pivoted back to the doors with numbers. 211, 212, 213... her room wasn't among them. 221, 222, 223... not here either. She suspected her room would be a little ways away from where she was and she was right. She found her door, fit the key and opened it. The inside of the room was mostly familiar furniture - A wardrobe, a desk, her bed - however in one corner there was a strange showcase-like structure. Next to the door was a window draped with curtains. Whose idea was it to build a window in a place where it got so cold? Luckily the window could be easily locked with a handle. Lyra sighed. What a day. She secretly hoped that she would wake up the following day and everything would be back to normal. With that thought she made to throw herself on the bed, but noticed her suitcase. She opened it and thought about taking a shower, but brushed off the thought. She just wanted to sleep and for that she needed something warmer to wear. Within minutes she had changed and tucked herself into bed. Her back ached and the thin mattress didn't help much in the matter. Nevertheless it felt good to lie down and soon Lyra was asleep.


End file.
